


Oddly Normal

by mydeira



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-28
Updated: 2013-07-28
Packaged: 2017-12-21 15:48:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/902061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mydeira/pseuds/mydeira
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Willow and Xander deal with Cordelia's death.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Oddly Normal

Xander had spent the better part of the day traveling the worn dirt roads trying to track down a girl rumored to be a slayer.  Tired, dirty, and frustrated, he finally gave up for the night and acquired a room in Nairobi.  Hopefully tomorrow would be better.  A shower and some sleep were all he wanted right now and it didn’t look like that was happening any time soon.

 

“You are Alexander Harris?” the clerk asked with an elevated voice.

 

“Last time I checked,” Xander replied annoyed.  He just wanted to get some sleep, was that too much to ask?

 

His attention was caught by some movement off to his right.  A person stepped out of the shadows, red hair catching the dim light.

 

“Willow!  You could give a guy a little notice!” he exclaimed.

 

She walked toward him slowly.  “I wanted to tell you in person.  You deserve that much.”

 

“Will, what’s going on?” he asked, suddenly frightened.  Something really bad must have happened for her to teleport from Brazil.  “Someone died, didn’t they?”

 

Willow bit her lip, searching for the right words.  “Do you have your room yet?”

 

Whatever had happened and to whomever Willow didn’t want to tell him in a public place.  This definitely wasn’t of the good.

 

After getting his key and some directions, Xander led Willow to his room.

 

Once he had shut the door, her turned to his old friend.  “Buffy?  Dawn?” he guessed tentatively.

 

She shook her head.

 

“Giles?”

 

“Cordelia,” she said finally.

 

Xander blinked.  “Cordy, but she’s—”

 

“Angel called me this morning,” Willow cut in, voice shaky.  “She, um...she passed away during the night.

 

“But she was doing fine.  In a coma, but...she wasn’t on life-support.  Just sleeping and...” he made his way to the bed and sat down.  “She just died?  In her sleep?”

 

Willow sat beside him.  “In her sleep,” she repeated.

 

“But it’s Cordy... She’s Cordy... She’s not supposed to...” he trailed off.

 

“I’m sorry, Xander,” Willow said, grabbing his hand.

 

“She was going to be famous,” he murmured, barely audible.  “She wasn’t meant to get mixed up in this.” 

 

“None of us were,” Willow sighed.

 

“What happened to us, Will?” Xander looked at his best friend, tears shining on his cheeks.  “She was going to be a movie star, untouchable and rich.  You were going to work for the CIA, breaking into enemy computers.  And Jesse and I were going to be secret agents, working undercover to expose sinister government plots.  But now look at us.  We had our whole lives ahead of us.  What happened?”

 

“Life,” Willow said simply.  “Apocalypses.”

 

Xander smiled faintly.  “Didn’t Cordy start one of those?”  Willow nodded.  “And you nearly ended the world.  I’m starting to feel a bit left out here.”

 

She punched him lightly.  “Hey, mister, don’t underestimate yourself.  You’ve stopped a couple, that’s right up there with starting them.”

 

“She wasn’t in any pain, was she?” he asked, somber mood returning.

 

“No, she wasn’t.”

 

They sat in silence for a while.

 

“It seems so strange.  Such a normal way...to die,” Xander considered.  “It’s how ordinary people die.  No hell gods or vampires or mystical spells... It _shouldn’t_ seem so bizarre.  Like when Joyce got sick and Tara—”

 

“Was shot,” Willow finished.  “Those things don’t make sense in our world.”

 

“Thank you, Willow,” he said, squeezing her hand.  “I’m glad you came.”

 

“A phone call didn’t seem quite right,” she squeezed back.

 

“Promise me that you won’t die before me,” Xander said completely serious.

 

“No,” she said vehemently.  “Same time.”

 

“Old and gray,” Xander added, remembering.  “In our home by the orange orchard surrounded by your fifty cats.”

 

“Fifteen,” Willow corrected.

 

“Fifteen,” Xander amended.  He held out his free hand, “Together?”

 

“Together,” she shook it firmly.

 

 


End file.
